Maybe you have a genius idea. Maybe you’re bursting with creativity but you simply do not have the resources or the financial aid to help you make that idea into a reality. That’s what Kickstarter is for, “a funding platform for artists, designers, filmmakers, musicians, journalists, inventors, explorers…” It’s quite the genius little start up. So how Kickstarter works is that project owners choose a target minimum of funds and the deadline by which people can donate/pledge money (via Amazon Payments). If the goal is not met by the deadline, none of the pledged money gets collected. If the goal is met, the funds go to the project creator, after Kickstarter has taken 5% of it and Amazon has taken another small percentage (~2%). Successfully funded project ideas are permanently archived on the site.

As students of Media, Culture & Communication, we are forever hearing our professors lament the “death of newspapers” and other traditional news forms. But with this “death” has come an entirely new life form that has gave way to a multitude of news sources on various platforms other than print media. The overarching term for this concept is most commonly known as online journalism. In exploring the various types of online journalism, the form that has emerged as the most interesting and popular recently is nonprofit online news organizations. While there are myriad nonprofit news organizations, our research has brought light two organizations that present new and innovative concepts in online journalism–Spot.us and Propublica.

Both websites are funded by The Knight Foundation which is a foundation dedicated to promoting journalism. Propublica is largely funded by former banker Herb Sandler who pledges $10 million annually to the site, as well as tax-deductible donations made by the public. In further examining these news organizations, we divided the two in an attempt to further delve into the inner workings of each organization, with myself further examining Spot.us, and Andrew examining Propublica.